Memorable quotes from a not so memorable movie

'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.' From the movie Coach Carter

So this is how it ends

For those who wanna play catch up
1, 2, 3a/3b

His last few days had been a blur. He had thought and thought and then thought a little more about the infinite possibilities that might possibly lead him to meeting her again. The crazy part was he didn't really even know what he would do if he even did meet her but still he spent a major part of time wondering if he could somehow will fate to give him one more meeting with her. He drove on to work past the cafe where he had met her last and his eyes scanned the floor more out of hope than anything else. She had stopped showing up for work there 2 days after he had last met her there. he drove on once again late for work not helped by the piling morning rush hour traffic. He suddenly noticed some free room in the right most lanes and he jumped lanes happy to catch some breathing room and revved up his car. Suddenly as he caught some speed he caught something from the corner of his eye and he braked as hard as he possibly could. His car went out of control skidding between his lane and the pavement. The cars behind him went into a crazy tailspin but managed to stay clear of each other and the traffic. Meanwhile oblivious to all this he tried to gain some degree of control on his own car but he soon realised it was futile. He braced himself for impact however miraculously it never came. His car finally after swerving 180 degrees managed to come to a stop exactly beside where his corner of eyes had been transfixed.

Sally: Some show you are putting on today, pretty impressive
Harry: Oh cmon overlook the technicalities, hop into your ride
Sally: Presumptuous as ever, do you feel lucky today punk?
Harry: More like the luckiest man in the world

phoenixrizes.blogspot.com

As bloggers all around the world celebrated the first anniversary of his independence he looked back at the empty blogger window trying to surmise the changes his life had gone through. He recalled the days when he had taken his first fledgling steps as a medical student overjoyed at having gotten into one of his dream med schools. He recalled the days of getting bullied by his erstwhile seniors and now best friends. He recalled how he had sat up late nights waiting for the night mess to open up during exams dying to grab that cup of tea in the Delhi winters. He recalled how he had warmed to the first rays of the sun in the courtyard of the hostel. Those had been good times where he had stepped out of the shadows of his overachieving siblings and found his own voice in this world. It was sometime during those days when a combination of spare time and unlimited internet at his hostel had led him to open his own blog. The blog was an autobiographical diary of his life lived surrogately by this guy called Phoenix. He always had a knack of writing which was lost somewhere during his teenaged years buried under the weight of his medical ambitions. He wrote about his life, his daily routines lacing it with dollops of humor giving people the lowdown on life's fundaes at the same time. The blog initially caught on amongst his friends who loved the inside scoops of one their closest friend's life. They said his style was fresh and vibrant and they liked it because they always felt a real connection with the writer. Soon the blog caught on with friends of his friends and their friends till it caught on a life of its own. Soon it became quite a rage in Delhi as people discussed, argued, debated, hated and fell in love with every single word written out by him. He became the voice of the youth who began identifying with him as he became the faceless darling of thousands of people. He could never convince himself totally that he didn’t enjoy all the attention but it was sometime during these days that he noticed that his health began to suffer. His health about which he mentioned about far and between on his blog became a subject of media speculation and it was only after extensive checkups that he was diagnosed with AIDS. His life fell ripped apart around him as he struggled to come to terms with this harsh truth. They gave him 18 months at the maximum before he would succumb to the inevitable truth. Being a public figure made it even worse as he had a tough time at his college due to the stigma attached with the disease and soon enough he was made to quit. That was the last straw and even though love and sympathy continued to pour in through his thousands and thousands of readers he made a public announcement that he remembered as clearly as the day he had typed it out on his blog. He announced that he didn’t want to go out crawling out of this world that had given him so much. He said he would live his life to the fullest for one whole year and then exactly a year after then with the support of his relatives and friends take his life with the aid of an injection. This announcement had been followed by a pent up media frenzy and channels all across the world discussed this unprecedented announcement by this voice that had been heard by millions around the world and reopened the age old debate about euthanasia. The government was riled up too in this matter as many debates and public interest litigations requesting thwarting any such suicide attempt. The local police under orders soon issued an arrest warrant on his name so that he could be protected from attempted any such thing and he was asked to be put into protective custody. This order was again followed by outrage by all the fans of his blog who asked him to be left alone saying it wasn’t fair for a dying man to be meted out such treatment. He had however kind of anticipated such a step by the authorities and had with the help of his friends managed to escape to an undisclosed destination in Europe. As he had lived his life in hiding for the past one year he had done whatever his heart had desired while still logging all these details onto his blog. And that is how he had retained his connection with all his readers who gave him their whole hearted support and some so far as came forward with financial support to fund his stay in Europe. But al this time away from home he had had plenty of time to think and he slowly had realized that his public announcement had just been a knee jerk reaction to the anger he had built up due to the shock and his helplessness at the situation. He had acknowledged that this past one year had been the best time of life and he had realized how much he wanted to live everyday left of his life till he had no more. He announced on his blog that he was no longer interested in ending his life; instead he said he wanted to go back to a country which he had called home for all these years. This announcement was met by varied reaction, some were happy he had decided to live on with the gift of life, some said he was a big cheat and had been perpetrating a fraud at the behest of some blogging company for free hits while others simply braced themselves for welcoming him back to India. He smiled content at this outpouring of love; he smiled because the phoenix has once again risen from its ashes.

P.S. The seed for this story was sown by Saggistica a while back on the comments tab of one of my posts, thank you

Celebrate Munna Jayanti asap

Every once in a while a movie comes along that makes you think long after the empty soda glasses and popcorn bags have been trashed and refuses to fade away after the credits do. These movies do turn out to be the subject of widespread debates and water cooler conversations and the characters get taken home along with the movie audiences as popular lines from the movie get thrown about in regular chitchats. However these movies require original script backed by crisp editing and an air tight screen play. That is why these movies are few and far between and that is why 2006 has been such a great year for all Bollywood buffs. It began with Omprakash Mehra's very very original and fresh Rang De basanti, was followed up by Vishal Bharadwaj's Shakespearean’s adaptation Omkara and has been recently jazzed up again by Lage Raho Munnabhai. Three films which in terms of style and content could not be more different from each other but all of which have become cult classics and all of which I have enjoyed equally.

However this post has been triggered by the latest of the three movies. Sequels have an odd way of going down slope after people follow up on their wonderful first time efforts. The people making them get drunk with their own success at the same time remaining fearful of a follow up failure. So most sequels are not made from the heart and always with an intention of pleasing a particular target audience and often lack the soul which is buried under tones of gloss and style over substance cinema. And that is exactly why Lage Raho... comes across as such a shining star in this year that is already crowded with sequels from the Bollywood stable. The movie blends humor with a message without ever getting too in your face or preachy. It brings back two very lovable characters from the first part while changing the setup around them and keeping them away from their mannerisms and afflictions. As RDB brought back very relevant messages about India and Indianness LRB does the same but from a very different and fresh Gandhian perspective. There is a constant thread of humor running through the movie which tugs at your every muscle and gut till you can laugh no harder. The humor is also very situational and natural without having to resort to loud gags and getups. I watched the movie over the weekend and I can’t wait to catch it again asap so all you people who haven’t done so I have just one piece of advice 'Jaldi dekh ke aa naa Mamu, ekdum mast picture hai'.

Passing thought cing

You don't need a Nobel everyday to make your day

P.S. An Oscar might be handy nontheless ;)